Nideffer, Wright, Carter Claim Hard Court Singles Crowns in La Jolla

“May Gray” is a think in coastal California…when the fog off the ocean hangs onshore and it’s cool and misty (while being a toasty 100+ in the Desert). Today was a May Gray sort of day, highs and lows in the 60s, but breezier than normal and the sun absent. The weather was pretty good for playing tennis though and there was lots of action on the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club courts today.

Ros Nideffer started off proceedings with a solid 64 64 win over Andrea Rice. Rice tried a lot of things…serving and volleying, slicing and dicing, driving to Ros’ forehand…Ros was largely able to dictate with her forehand and hit some fantastic volleys too. Shelly Works beat Michelle Saunders for the bronze, rallying from 1-4 down to win 64 60. Even from a distance I could see Shelly was determined to hit balls higher than Michelle’s comfort zone. Playing Shelly when tired is a tough ask.

Susan Wright and Shannon Gordon Carney took the court next. Susan won 63 62 but Shannon impressed with her movement and solid game; Susan served great, hit the ball early and made few errors in winning the title for the second straight year. Tracey Thompson beat Leslie Murveit 62 62 for bronze.

Nideffer and Debbie Spence Nasim played Jami Jones/Deb Higa in a rematch of last December’s 40s final and though the result was the same, with Ros/Debbie winning 63 62, the match featured some lengthy games and great rallies. Paulson/Rice won the bronze with a three set win over Hammargren/Lyons.

By the time our match started on Court 1 it was after 3:30 and getting darker with a light mist. We won the first set 63, and then the mist turned to rain, and play was cancelled for the day around 5:30pm. We resume play at 9am tomorrow. The 3/4 playoff between Tina Karwasky/Carolyn Lane and Una Davis/Colleen Ferrell was a topsy-turvy affair. Una/Colleen won the first set 63…and Tina/Carolyn promptly won the second 61. On to the third where Una and Colleen went up 5-1. I went to warm up for doubles…and came back and they were still playing…a tiebreak (and Tina/Carolyn had gone up 65 before Colleen held serve to level the set). Una and Colleen finally won the set 7-5 in the tiebreak to win the bronze for the second straight year.

Brenda Carter avenged her loss to Molly Hahn at the Clay by beating her 75 64 (rallying from 1-4 down in the first set). Betty Wachob finally had a short match, beating Brenda Winstead 62 60 to take the bronze.

The 70 doubles will be played tomorrow morning.

The 80s finals are set for tomorrow: King vs DeVries and King/DeVries vs Herrick/Wasser.

Jane Lutz/Rita Price won the round robin 90 doubles gold. The last round robin matches in 90 singles are tomorrow.

I’ll add more photos tomorrow…have to get ready for an early match now!

Fans can tune-in to RadioTennis.com on Friday, May 11 at 9 a.m. to listen to live audio play-by-play of the day’s matches on Court No. 1. Tennis broadcaster Ken Thomas will provide the live web cast commentary at https://radiotennis.com/.